Just Give

2 Corinthians 8:12
Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don't have. (NLT)

This is a subject that turns many a believer off. Do not tell me what to give and do not preach on giving for an hour before every offering is probably what you are thinking. Whenever I hear a message like that it makes me want to wrap my wallet with duct tape.

I let the Holy Spirit guide me in what to do. When I do and then ask my wife what she heard, we often are at the same number. Her number confirms what I thought I heard from God. I am speaking of giving an offering-usually a love offering after someone ministers.

We believe in the tithe and that the first tenth should go to God. All of it is His and this is the only thing God said to test Him in-our finances. We are blessed daily and God does not do that as the direct result of our giving. He was blessing us before we were led to tithe. But, after we began to tithe, we noticed a difference. There was always money to pay the bills and some leftover to bless others.

We have not been on a fixed income for many years. Working for ourselves we had to balance the budget based on a variable income stream. Some weeks were good and others not so good. When in need He always supplied more opportunity for work.

And giving does not have to always be money. We should be giving to others in other ways. Perhaps we can volunteer at a soup kitchen or pantry once a week, or at a non-profit that serves others. If we have a lot, we should be giving more than the average person. But if we have little, we should never consider going into debt to give. We do not believe in using our credit card to give in an offering. That is creating debt and giving what we do not have.